“If he’s that crazy, he could have been spying on Ruby and the girls this whole time,” Lucy said. “I mean, if he wanted to get them that bad, why wouldn’t he?”
I felt my face pale at the thought.
“Lucy!” Melanie admonished.
“I’m just trying to be realistic.”
“Two women are missing, the girls could be targets, and you want to pile more worry on Gray? What the fuck is wrong with you?” Hunter said in a fierce whisper.
“Enough,” Jeff cut in. “Do you want the girls to hear you?”
We all turned to look at Ray and Brit, who were still happily playing in the living room. Neither of them seemed aware of the tension in the kitchen.
“I should tell them,” I said.
“Not yet,” Melanie said. “Let’s wait until we hear word from the sheriff’s department. They’ve already had to hear their mom is missing. Let’s not worry them about Ruby if there’s a chance we get her back today.”
U
Ruby
“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.”
I huddled on the metal cot, unable to move away from my grandfather as he screamed verse after verse of scripture at me. Ever since he’d come down into the basement room where mom and I were being held, he’d alternated between screaming scripture and whispering about “salvation.”
“But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”
With the lights on, I could see my mom for the first time in over two months. She was a shell of her former self. Gone was the vivacious beauty that longed to be the center of attention in any room. Her prized blonde hair hung limp around her shoulders, with at least two inches of dark roots showing. She was wearing a shapeless sack of a dress that looked like something from pioneer days. Despite its size, I could still tell she’d lost several pounds.
But she was alive.
“Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” Whatever the fuck that meant, I had no clue, but Granddad seemed content to proselytize without our input.
After another few minutes, Granddad left the basement with a promise that he’d be back soon. Luckily, he left the overhead lights on.
“How long will he be gone?” I asked mom.
“No telling, sometimes it’s hours, sometimes it’s minutes. But he always comes back.”
“All right, then we better get to looking for a way out.” I tried twisting my body to see how my handcuffs were attached to the bed. If there was a weak point, I would find it.
“Ruby, I’ve tried. There’s no way.”
I looked up from my assessment of my handcuffs and chains to stare at Mom. “I’m not gonna just wait around till he decides what he wants to do with us. I got a man that loves me and who’s probably going nuts worrying about me. I’m not gonna give up so your psycho daddy can kill me.”
Mom sat up on her bed. The chains around her ankles and wrists were much longer than mine, which made movement easier for her. “Tell me about your man.”
“Ma, now’s not the time to dish about my new boyfriend,” I gritted out as I tugged at the metal headboard of the cot.
“Just tell me. Does he treat you good? Is he a good man?”
I stopped my struggles and turned to look at her. She had tears in her eyes, and I’d never seen my mom look so broken. So I relented. “Yes, mom, he’s a good man. He loves me, loves the girls, and takes care of all of us. He even spent a ton of his time and money doing everything he could to find you.”
“You’re happy?”
It stung that she didn’t acknowledge Gray’s part in looking for her, but I kept my thoughts to myself. “Yes, mom. Every day, Grayson makes me happy. So would you mind helping me figure out a way to get the fuck out of here so I can get back to him?”
The small basement room was nothing more than a cinder block box with a concrete floor. A tiny window was just above Mom’s head, but the glass was so dirty and covered in cobwebs, I wasn’t even sure it was a potential escape route. I knew that Gray and our friends would have raised the alarm as soon as I didn’t return from the cafe, but I had no idea how long they’d taken to notice my absence. How many minutes or hours had passed since I’d been taken from the parking lot?
“Can you slip out of your cuffs?” I asked mom as I tugged on my own. The metal was loose on my wrist but not quite enough to let my hand slip through.
“I don’t know. I haven’t tried in so long.”
“Try! Do it, Mom! If not for yourself, then for me and the littles.”
“Ruby, I’ve been trying for so long. I’m so tired ...”
“That’s what he wants, Mom. He wants to break you down. Don’t let him. Be stronger than this asshole.”
“Rub-”
“Do it!”
Chapter 33
Deputy Liam Van ess
“I don’t like this,” Sadie said as she looked out the windshield toward the run-down shack below us.
I’d parked the cruiser on the turn just above Silas MacLean’s shack. Sadie and I had been watching the little building for any signs of life. There were no movements outside, no lights shining from the small windows, not even a curl of smoke from the chimney. The snow falling had obscured tracks on the road, but it was still clear a vehicle had been down this road sometime today.
“How do you want to proceed?” I asked Sadie.
I’d returned to the Creek three months ago after being medically discharged from the Army. At first, I hadn’t wanted to take the job as a deputy. My father, the mayor, was close friends with the long-time Sheriff, and anyone that counted Stephen Van Ess as a friend was trouble. But there wasn’t much else I was qualified to do, and my sister said they needed good people in the department.
Because I loved my sister, I joined.
It was immediately clear there were two kinds of deputies on the force. There were the ones like Finch, the bullies that loved lording power over the innocent citizens of the county. Or there were the ones like Sadie and me, the ones that came to work every day to do the job and do it right—even if you were told otherwise. Every day, I counted myself lucky that Sadie was a good one.
Sadie sighed and smoothed a hand over her dark braided hair. “What I want is a warrant, so we could just enter the place and search it. But it’s pretty clear we’re not getting that.”
“We could wait it out,” I said. “The assistant DA sounded like she would try to get through to Judge Meijer, even if her boss thought it wasn’t worth it.”
“Carly’s good, but even if she succeeds, it could take hours. We’re here now. I don’t want to waste any more time.”
“Agreed,” I said. “We can check it out. If he’s got Ruby in there, we may see enough to have probable cause for a search.”
“We can’t just go right up to the door. Silas hates cops, even before he was suspected of kidnapping.”
“Okay, I’ll go around back. Check it out first.”
“No,” Sadie said as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “I’ll go in the back. You stay visible in the front.”
Sadie got out of the car. “Stay with the cruiser for now.”
“Be careful,” I said. “Ida says he’s a trapper and fond of his guns.”
Sadie saluted as she pulled a wool hat over her head and started jogging toward the woods. I got out of the car to get a pair of binoculars and a rifle, just in case. As I sat in the car with the rifle on my lap, I split my attention between the cabin, the road, and the woods.
Seconds later, Sadie disappeared into the thick pine and underbrush. “Can you see any movement in the shack?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Sadie said into the radio. It sounded like she was still moving.
From my position, I could see the shack and another small outbuilding t
hat looked like an outhouse. There was also a lean-to with a healthy store of wood. Despite its ramshackle appearance, the cabin was clearly still in regular use.
“Any signs of a car or a snowmobile on that side?” I asked.
“Nothing, not even tracks. I’m going to move closer to get a better look in the windows,” Sadie responded.
“Careful of traps.”
Sadie chuckled. “I know what I’m about, Liam.”
Sadie was more than capable, I knew that. I worried for her, though. Silas was a nut and the most likely a suspect for the disappearance of his daughter and granddaughter. I did not want to take any chances.
“I don’t see any movement inside,” Sadie said. “There are signs of recent activity, but no Silas or the MacLean women.”
“Hold your position. I’ll come up to the front.”
“Copy.”
I got out of the car and pulled my weapon from my holster. I kept the gun at my side in a low and ready position as I started cautiously down the path toward the shack. It was slow going. I had to pick my way over logs and rocks that were slick and obscured by the new blanket of new snow.
My bum knee felt tight in the frigid December air, but I pressed on. I would not let my injury stop me from doing a second job. I gritted my teeth as I made it the last few feet down the hill with no incident. Up close, the shack looked even more run-down. Lichen and mold covered the door and wooden slats. If there had been any paint on the wood, it was long gone.
I re-holstered my weapon and approached the front door.
“Sheriff’s department.”
I stopped and listened for any movement inside. Nothing. Just the sound of my own ragged breaths. I knocked again and announced myself again with still no movement from inside the house.
“Sadie, you got anything?”
“Nothing.”
U
Ruby
“Did you hear that?”
I stopped tugging on my chains and listened. Was I just hearing things? Had the damn man already broken me?
“I don—”
“Shhh.” I listened again. Then finally, something like tapping sounded just above our heads. “I think someone’s here.”
“It could be Dad.”
“HELP!” I screamed and banged my chains against the metal, trying to make as much noise as I could.
“Ruby, stop!” Mom hissed. “Dad will hurt you, for sure, if he hears you making a racket.”
“I don’t fucking care!” I yelled over the clang of my chains against the metal bed frame. “If there’s even a slight chance it’s someone else, I need to try.”
“HELP! I’m being held against my will!”
I glared at my mother, willing her to scream with me, but she remained mute. What had he subjected her to for these long weeks? Why would she not make a sound to save us?
“IN HERE! WE’RE IN HERE!”
U
Liam
“Did you hear that?” Sadie said.
“Sounds like metal hitting metal,” I replied into the radio.
“I hear muffled screams on this side.”
“Fuck. Do you want me to come back there?”
“No,” Sadie replied. “Let’s enter from both sides. These doors look easy enough to break.”
I stepped back on the small stoop and looked at the ancient wooden door. She was right. A few well-placed kicks to the lock, and it would probably pop right open.
“Okay. Ready when you are.”
“One. Two. Three.”
On the last count, I leaned back and kicked the door as hard as possible on my bum leg. The wood of the frame splintered, but the door held. I reared back and kicked it again. This time, the door popped open and slammed against the inner wall.
“Sheriff’s department,” I yelled as I scanned the room.
“Sheriff’s department,” Sadie echoed from the back.
“Clear in the front,” I said.
“Clear back here.”
Cautiously, I moved from the combination living and bedroom toward the back of the shack. A small doorway led to a kitchenette, where Sadie stood in the center of the room, gun at her side.
“Nothing,” she said and looked around the room. “I swear there were voices.”
“Shh,” I said. “I can hear it now, too.”
Sadie paused, walked toward the back door, shook her head, and then moved toward the front room. “It’s louder back this way,” she said.
I followed her into the room, scanning for anything I may have missed. “You’re right, but where’s it coming from?”
“Sheriff’s department! If you can hear me, make a noise!” Sadie yelled as she prowled the room.
The banging increased, but I still couldn’t make out the words. “There has to be a basement.”
“A hatch, maybe?” she asked.
I felt the urgency thrumming through my veins as I crawled over every inch of the floor. I needed to find a seam or a handle. It had to be accessible for a man like Silas. I pulled my flashlight from my belt and aimed the beam at the floor. It looked like outdoor material, covered in filth and the snow off our boots. I got down on my knees and slammed my fist against the floor, looking for weaknesses. Behind me, Sadie continued to call out to those below and stomped her feet over the floor.
“Over here,” Sadie called.
In the corner of the room was a cot Sadie had pushed to the side and pulled back the carpet. She’d uncovered a narrow door cut into the subfloor with a shiny new padlock on its handle. Through the door, the banging was louder, and I could make out a desperate female voice yelling, “help.”
“We’re going to need the bolt cutters,” I said. “I don’t think I can break this lock, and I don’t want to risk shooting it.”
“On it,” Sadie said and ran from the room. “I’ll call for backup, too.”
“We’re going to get you out of there,” I yelled to the door. “Just a few minutes more.”
It felt surreal to be kneeling next to the trapdoor, knowing someone was trapped below. I’d seen some fucked up shit in my time with the Army, but never would I have expected such a thing to happen in my hometown. Were things that different since I left?
“Here,” Sadie said and handed me the bolt cutters. “I called for backup and a bus.”
“Good,” I grunted. The bolt cutters made quick work of the lock, then I looked up at Sadie. “Cover me. I’ll go down first.”
“No, let’s wait for backup.”
“No,” I said and slowly opened the door to reveal a set of small stairs.
“Please! Help me!”
“I’m coming!” I yelled back, then turned to Sadie. “Cover my back.”
Sadie clamped her mouth shut and gave a tight nod.
I nodded back and started down the stairs, weapon at the ready. “Sheriff’s department.”
“Thank fuck. Come get me out of here!”
The room was dark below, so I clicked on my flashlight. “Ruby, is that you?”
There was a choked sob from the far corner. “Yes, I’m down here. So is my mom.”
I got to the end of the steps and swept the room with the light. Two cots were tight against the opposite walls, both women laid prone on them. “Are you hurt?”
“I don’t think so. There’s a light on the wall by the stairs. Please turn it on.”
I followed her instructions and flicked the light switch on. The glare of fluorescent tubes made the basement all the more horrifying. The cinder block walls were bare, save for a massive cross between the two cots. Both women were clothed, but neither had any bedding to protect them against the chill.
“Sadie! They’re okay! Bring down the bolt cutters.”
“Good. Bus just radioed in. They’re five minutes out. The snow’s s
lowing them down.”
Since Pearl looked worse off than Ruby, I moved to her bed first. It bothered me she had yet to say a word. “Pearl, you okay?”
“He’ll come back,” she said as she shrank away from my outstretched hand.
“It’s okay, we’ll be here to stop him,” I said.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“Christ, Ma! These cops are here to save us. Stop acting like this.”
“It’s okay,” Sadie said as she came into the room. “We’ll get you free and we can work the rest out.”
“Well, hurry the fuck up. I’m ready to get out of this hell hole.”
Chapter 34
Gray
Waiting felt like torture.
I’d chosen the life of a soldier because I wanted to protect my country and serve the people. I was a man of action and service, not a man built to keep the home fires burning. I felt the need to leave the Masons’ home and search for Ruby like a physical thing that crawled across my skin, even as I placidly sat and played with the girls.
It had been two hours since we heard the deputies were on their way to Silas’s shack. Two hours that felt like an eternity when I didn’t know where Ruby was or if she was even okay. If this was what she had been going through while searching for her mom, I’d grossly under-appreciated her ability to carry on in the face of so much fear.
If—no, when—when she finally was back in my arms, I was going to admit to her she was obviously the stronger of the two of us. Then I was going to beg her to marry me so I could tie myself to her permanently.
“Mr. Gray.” Brit looked up from the paper she was coloring with fat blobs of red she was claiming were hearts. “Is Ruby’s meetin’ done yet? It’s takin’ too long.”
“I don’t know, sweetheart,” I said and reached out a hand to smooth back the wisps of curls that had escaped her braid. “I hope it’s soon, too.”
“Can’t we just go to where she is?” asked Ray.
I looked down at the older girl at my side and pulled her in close. “Not yet.”
“Is she gone like Mommy?” Brit asked in a tiny whisper.
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